‘The frightening thing is they see it as normal behaviour’

WOULD banning Serbia from European competition help remedy the issue of racism there? If I’m honest, I seriously doubt it. It’s a tough situation because people across the world have a different set of standards and beliefs. So dishing out bans or fines will not necessarily make the difference. They will still have the same set of standards and beliefs. I remember speaking to Mario Balotelli about some racial abuse he had received. Mario explained that the person that was giving it to him did not even view it as abuse — he thought it was normal behaviour. That is frightening. But at the same time, we have to be careful not to tar all Serbian people with the same brush. Aleksandar Kolarov, for example, is one of the fairest and nicest people I’ve met. But maybe there is something in their society that makes this behaviour acceptable. When I was racially abused by Serbia supporters at the European Under 21 Championship in Holland in 2007 (right) I was shocked. It was the first time in my career that I had experienced anything like that. I remember turning round to have a look and saw a few people making noises — but then more people started to copy them. I just didn’t know what to think. And with some supporters, it is constant abuse and that makes it hard to focus on the game. How can you when you know there are racist people in the stadium? So, when I hear Danny Rose talk about how he lost his head during Tuesday’s game, I can understand where he is coming from. He, I, or anyone else should not have to deal with racial abuse. All footballers take stick from supporters, it comes with the territory. But you cross so many boundaries when it’s racial abuse. If I had encountered the same amount of abuse Danny got, then I would have reacted. It is horrific if he has had to go through that sort of abuse for the whole game. You need a thick skin to take the general abuse footballers receive — let alone the sort of abuse Danny took.

THE Football Association have threatened to stop playing matches against Serbia in the wake of the disgraceful scenes of racism and violence that marred England Under 21s’ 1-0 win in Krusevac on Tuesday. Danny Rose (right) revealed he was subjected to abuse throughout the game. FA general secretary Alex Horne said: ‘No football team should be asked to play in any environment where racial abuse, violence and threatening behaviour is prevalent. We must question the validity of sending a team to Serbia in the